Before the Boom Boom Turbo
by TougeTiburon
Summary: We've seen stories about Kai and Seiji, which are all well and good. But what about the other Hachi Roku driver? Chapter Five just updated! I'm interested to know if anyone wants to see more. Please review!
1. Chapter 1

"Before the Boom Boom Turbo"

Initial D Fan fiction, written by Banzai.

Disclaimer: I don't own Initial D, or any of the characters. Anyone who thinks so…I mean how retarded would you have to be? Seriously!

Chapter One

-Saitama Prefecture, May 199x. Chichibu Pass.

On the narrow roads of the Chichibu pass, gentle winds work their way through the trees. Thin narrow shafts bend slightly as the breeze causes a slight rustling noise through the leaves. The sounds of Chichibu peacefully echo throughout the mountain scenery, only interrupted by a slight, but defined, mechanical tone that starts to work its way throughout the mountainous Japanese landscape. A flash of light pierces through the narrow brush of trees, before disappearing again into the darkness. The motorized roar grows louder as another flash of light, this one brighter than the last appears seconds later through the underbrush, scaring some small animal that flee into the safety of the woods.

The screeching of tortured Potenza RE-050 tires rake through the mountainous backdrop. The melody of the forest is becoming overwhelmed by a mechanical symphony of engine tones, gearshifts and high gripping tires. The instrument of this concerto races down a long stretch of road, the fairway lit up only by the square focused lights on the front of the machine, as its conductor eloquently instructs the machine to perform its next piece.

Two aficionados of this work are leaning up against the metal barriers of Chichibu pass, the guardrail becoming a seat for many street racing enthusiasts that come to watch this man's work, and others like him. They quickly glance at their own machines, hazard lights blinking as a signal of their presence. As the orchestra of sound comes ever closer, small smiles rise on the two racer's faces. "He's coming…" one of them said quietly to his colleague as he placed his hand confidently on the bonnet of his beloved crimson SW20 Turbo. His friends nodded in excitement as they watched the lights on the road grow brighter, their mouths drying with anticipation.

Suddenly, the machine burst from around the sharp left curvature in the road, the sound of the driver laying into the throttle echoing in the eardrums of the two watching. The screeching of the tires could barely be heard over the roaring of the engine of the white Toyota as it elegantly grazed the clipping point of the turn, righted itself slightly and powered down the upcoming straightaway. The two drivers who had just witnessed a stylish manifestation of balance and technique, both unknowingly let out a sharp breath of air as the machine's taillights lit up and again powered through the next right hander another full throttle push. "Damned if Wataru isn't crazy, driving a Levin like that…" the driver of the mid-shipped Toyota said quietly as he walked a bit into the street. His comrade walked a bit over toward his own black S14 Silvia and rested against it, using the car to prop himself up as he reflected over the event. "Yeah, he rides the throttle the entire way from entrance to exit. I've never seen someone move a car like that around here…at least not before that guy" he said as he continued to look down the road, as if he could still see the Levin continuing its refined dash down the Chichibu touge.

Moment later, the white Levin pulled into a parking lot at the bottom of the pass, slowly sliding into a parking slot. The driver turned a small dial of the instrument panel, turning off the car's headlights as he let the gentle hum of his 4AGE relax his nerves while the engine cooled down. Slowly raising his hand to the stopwatch that was hung around his neck, he glanced down at the time, before releasing the timepiece and allowing it to swing freely a bit around his neck. "Six minutes and thirty four seconds…" he said to himself as he reflected back on his accomplishment. "Not too shabby…" he said with a small smirk, closing his eyes and resting as comfortably as he could in his Bride Racing seat.

His brief meditation was interrupted moments later, by a gentle tapping on his machine's window. Gently opening his eyes and tilting his head to the left, he saw one of his fellow racing acquaintances looking into the cockpit of the Hachi Roku, a bright and obnoxious smile on his face. Slowly moving his hand to the knob, the driver of the white Levin slowly rotated it, so the window was lowered just a crack. "What do you want, Misaro?" he asked as he looked into the face of his trusted friend and teammate. "Wataru, that run was amazingly fast! I was standing by the eleventh corner with Togosa, didya see us?" he asked with a sharp and high voice that reminded Wataru of went he had gone through puberty. He looked past Misaro for a moment and glanced at his red SW20 that was in the background. He hadn't even heard the midship pull into the parking space next to him. Maybe he was a bit more tired than he thought…

Looking back to answering the young man's question, Wataru shook his head with a small smile rising on his face. "No, I didn't see you, I was too busy seeing the forest for the trees…" he said, making a small joke which obviously Misaro didn't understand because of the twisted look on his face. Shaking his head a bit frantically, as if to clear his head from the awkward statement, Misaro moved to the next statement at hand. "So time did you clock in at?" he asked as he looked down at the stopwatch around his friend's neck. Gently taking the timepiece up in his left hand again, Wataru glanced down at it to refresh his memory. "Six thirty four…" he said proudly with a small smile as his friend started to jump up and down a bit, cheering. If any onlooker had seen them, they probably would have thought that Misaro himself had run that lightning face time.

"Amazing! Simply crazy!" the driver of the SW20 shouted amongst the dim lights of the Chichibu parking lot. The young man smiled and chuckled he rested his hands on the top of the white Levin. "Wataru, you are the man…" he said with a smile as he looked toward the bonnet of the Toyota. "What's so amazing is that you can do it from such an underpowered 4AG! I mean, the thing is barely pushing out around one hundred and sixty horsepower, isn't it?" he asked as Wataru gave a small nod.

A small frown bunched up on Wataru's face as Misaro brought up a point that had been on Wataru's mind for quite some time. The small 16v engine he had in his Levin was an excellent performer, but it just didn't have the low to mid-range torque that he was looking for in a motor to run on the tight mountainous touge. He had to constantly be on the accelerator to make any serious speed against some of the more powerful Silvias or rotary powered machines that occasionally ran up on the Chichibu run. Course, Wataru had come out of top of many of his runs, but most of the time, it required him to rev the engine to within an inch of its life. Perhaps it was time for a change…

"…and then you were screaming around that last bend like ERGG RRRERRRR!" Misaro said, obviously on another rant that snapped Wataru from his daydream. Blinking quickly, he looked over back over to Misaro, who was out of breath from reenacting his friend's bold exploits. Looking at his friend's flushed face, Wataru chuckled, which then turned into a loud and hearty laugh, his voice echoing into the shadow of the Chichibu mountain.

Author's Notes: Ok, so that's chapter one. It's really not that great IMO, but I figured that I would fire something out. Don't expect too much from me in the way of updates, I'll try to get them out when I can. Best I can do. I'd like some feedback though, just so I could see what I could improve on.

-Thanks


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Saitama Prefecture in the summer months could only be described as bright…almost painfully bright. Everyone morning, the sun gently crept up over the Saitama landscape, the daylight pouring into every windowpane, door crack and splinter it could work its way through. All over the prefecture, people were slowly waking up, wincing uncomfortably in the warm glow of a new day…

One of those people was Wataru Akiyama…

"Oh, son of a bit--!" Wataru groaned loudly, opening his eyes, as his bed fell victim to another Monday's wake up call. He quickly rolled over to the left, his bedsprings squeaking lightly as he yanked the bedspread over his head, in a futile attempt to fend of the sunlight. Quickly peeking over the bedspread, like a six year old who was afraid of monsters in the closet, Wataru glanced at the clock as it read 0600. "Oh…" he gently whimpered as he rolled back over in bed, hoping somehow that he could set back time to grab a few more hours of sleep. He had hit the bed as soon as he came back from Mt Chichibu. He thought that four hours would have been enough time to grab some rest. However, Monday morning had different plans for him.

Wataru could hear a gentle squeaking of hinges moving coming from the entrance to his room. The noise, although quiet, echoed off the walls of his room in the early morning. Small thudding footfalls gently tiptoed toward him as Wataru quickly tried to conceal himself in his blanket. 'If I can't see her, maybe she won't be there…' Wataru childishly thought as he tried to grab a few more seconds of sleep before… "Aniki! It's six in the morning! Get up! You're going to be late for work!" a sharp female voice piercing through Wataru's protective covering as a small hand reached down and pulled the blanket off the bed. "Aniki!" the shrill voice echoed again. "Get out of bed!"

Wataru rolled over to see his younger sister Kazumi standing over his bed, her hands on her hips as he glared down at the Saitama racer. "I know you were out racing last night, but you have work this morning." the young eighteen year old said as he poked her big brother in the ribs gently. Wataru attempted to roll over and shield himself from her nagging assault. "Mmn…you're just upset because I didn't take you with me last night…" he said with a bit of a sleepy snarl before being poked in the back of the head, a small punishment for his slip of the tongue. " I know that you didn't take me with you, because yesterday you were aiming to break the Chichibu downhill record…You didn't want me to stand by myself at the bottom, and my weight in the car would of slowed you down…" she said with a small frown as she looked at her feet for a moment. Wataru took that moment of silence to grab a few milliseconds of sleep, before another poke jabbed him in the head. "Aniki!" Kasumi shouted as her last poke finally got her big brother to sit up and attempt to get out of bed.

"Alright, alright, I'll get up…" he grumbled as Kazumi grabbed his arm and gently started tugging, attempting to pry her brother out of bed. "Aww Wataru, you slept in your clothes again! I keep telling you not to do that! How are you going to find a girlfriend if your clothes are always all wrinkled up!" she said with a concerned, but joking tone as she saw her brother give her the nastiest look. The young girl laughed as she tugged at his arm again. Come on… I made breakfast…" she said, leading him out of his room, down the hallway of their small apartment and into the small kitchen. The smell of scrambled eggs, toast and coffee filled Wataru's nostrils as he slunked over to the table in the corner of the small kitchen. The table was next to some sliding glass doors that were connected to a small patio that overlooked the parking lot of their apartment complex. From where Wataru was sitting, he could see his Levin in the parking space he had left her in last night, still in pristine condition. He closed his eyes for a moment and reflected back on his exciting downhill run of Mt Chichibu.

"Oh no, no sleeping at the dinner table…" Kazumi said as she gently placed her brother's meal in front of him. She had created a nice plate of eggs and a slice of toast for him, which Wataru started to wolf down. He always liked Kazumi's cooking, probably because she made it just for him. "Woah, woah, slow down. I don't want you choking!" Kazumi said as she slowly reached for Wataru's plate, who in turn shielded it with his hand. "Mmm, I'm not done yet!" Wataru said as he continued to shove the breakfast delight into his mouth. His younger sister just chuckled at Wataru as she looked up at the clock. "Come on, slow down, you're not going to be late even if you take your time…" she said as Wataru reached out and pulled a small apple from the fruit bowl that in the middle of the table. 'I didn't really think that I was this hungry till I started eating…' he thought to himself as he munched into the apple. "I know, I know, but now that I started eating, I can't stop…" he said as he quickly placed the apple core on his plate. A voracious burp erupted from his mouth as Kazumi frowned and snatched his plate away from him. "Aniki! That was just nasty!" she said as she took the plate over to the kitchen sink. "But I'd give it about a seven point three…" she said with a chuckled as Wataru stood up and looked over to his little sister. She hadn't eaten a bite since they had sat down at the dinner table. Kazumi had just watched Wataru eat all the food "Hey, Kaz…you sure you don't want me to clean the dishes for you? I mean you spent all this time making this food for me…" he continued to ask as she turned around and raised a hand at his request. "Oh no, you get your butt into the shower and continue to get ready for work!" she said with a small smile as she picked up one of the small sponges on the sink and chucked it at Wataru, who just let it plop him in face, before running off to take a shower.

Wataru worked as a mechanic for a small tuning and repair shop that was close by to Mt Chichibu, Tune Force Machines. He spent most of his time just changing oil and replacing filters, but sometimes he spent his time taking blocks apart and rebuilding them, if the damage was extensive enough. However, the job worked out great, because it also gave him some space to work on his car and the tools too. He had been looking at more turbo applications that had been coming into the shop as the weeks had gone by. Most of the clients who came in, were local street racers that Wataru knew from the Chichibu run, so he also had a chance to take a look at some of the setups that other racers had, which gave him not only the experience working on the cars, but also some interesting ideas on what to do with his own Levin.

Right now, he had his head in the engine bay of a black Nissan Z32. The VG30DETT was owned by a local touge racer, Takuya Mutahara. With some simple and well thought out modifications and tuning, the sparkling black Nissan had reached an impressive 450hp. However, its driver had not reached the level of skill to handle the car's powerful tuning. Like Wataru, Takuya also ran the Chichibu run; however his times were much slower. He hadn't learned the proper throttle control to control the powerful kick that his upgraded turbos would give him, and so he would end up fishtailing out of the many tight corners that the Chichibu run would bear down on him. Wataru put his flashlight in his mouth as he looked down into bay once again. "So you're telling me that the car suddenly loses power around the midrange?" he asked as he reached into the bay. Takuya nodded slowly as he rested his hands on the fender of his machine. "Yeah, I don't understand it. I would suddenly be riding on boost and then…nothing…" he said as he looked at the bay with worry. "I got kind of scared and decided to take the car in, just to check that nothing was seriously wrong with it." The young man said with a bit of concern in his voice.

Wataru brought his head out of the engine bay and turned around, closing his eyes for a second, imagining what could have caused the malfunction. The car was still running, so it couldn't have been something fundamentally wrong with the car. After about a second, Wataru's eyes widened and he reached back down into the engine bay. "I'm surprised I didn't check this out when I first checked it out!" Wataru said as Takuya looked frantically into the bay. "What? What is it?" he asked as Wataru squeezed his hand into the engine bay and felt around behind the headlights. "Looks like one of your boost hoses have split," Wataru said with a small smile. "We have a few of these in the right size in the back storage." he said as he walked away from the black Nissan, leaving a small Takuya scratching his head in bewilderment.

About twenty minutes later, the strong revving of the VG30DETT echoed off the walls of the garage. Takuya sat behind the wheel of his car, a broad smile on his face. Wataru wiped some oil from his hands with a small work towel, as he put his hands on the bonnet, slowly lowering it. "Well, there you go." Wataru said briefly as he walked over to the right side of the car where Takuya was sitting. "Why don't you go drive it around for a moment, and then come back? We'll talk about payment after that…" he said with a small smile as Takuya nodded and shifted into reverse, slowly bringing the car out of the garage and driving into the main street. Wataru could hear a sharp squeal of tires as Takuya screamed up the street. The young Saitama driver let out a small relaxed sigh as he listened to the powerful motor's roar echo in the background. He wandered what it would feel like to be behind the wheel of such a powerful car. Those turbos really did seem to make life interesting…

-Well that's Chapter Two. No racing, or anything big, but I just wanted to give me a chance to write non-race scenes. Feedback would be great!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three.

The sun gently started to descend against the Saitama backdrop, masked by the massive mountain of Mt Chichibu. The sky exploded against the clouds with intense reds, yellows and orange hues as Wataru walked out from the garage of Tune Force Machines. He wiped his hands with another work-towel as he slowly walked into the parking lot. His work overalls were slung over his shoulder, the smell of oil and coolant wafting into the air as the young driver opened the back hatch of his beloved Levin and tossed his overalls inside. The blue jean garment drooped over the back section of the roll cage that Wataru had just had installed just recently. Shaking his head with a small chuckle, Wataru reached back into the former trunk space of his machine and yanked his work clothes back out. 'I'm still so used to having some space back there…' he thought to himself with another small laugh, closing the hatch to his car and moving to the driver's side.

Quickly sliding into the bucket seating, he drooped the overalls over the more comfortable passenger, his blue jean navigator slithering down onto the floor of the Levin as if they had come alive. "I guess you're telling me you had a long day too, eh?" he said to his pair of coveralls as they lay heaped up in a pile. "Well fine, I guess you're more comfortable down there anyway…" the Saitama racer said, as the small smirk on his face broadened into a slightly larger smile. He looked out the front windshield of his car and saw something stuck under one of his windshield wipers. It was small and square, about the size of a note card or envelope. "Hmm, what the…?", he asked as he slowly got out of his car and snagged the small object. It was a small note addressed to Wataru. He flipped it open and slowly read the message inscribed on the inside.

'Akiyama, I would like to meet you and your Levin in the bottom parking lot of Mt Chichibu at eight pm. There are some things that I would like to discuss with you pertaining to an upcoming race you are going to be in. I will be sitting in the car with its bonnet open. Hope to see you there.'

Signed, 'You'll find out when you get there'

Wataru raised his eyebrow at the message. It mostly likely was from another racer that wanted to challenge him on the Chichibu touge. "Well, my mother said never turn down a date…" he said to himself as he reached around in his pockets for his keys, quickly locating them and sliding back into the Levin. The parking lot of the small tuning and repair shop burbled with the sound of Wataru's 4AG gently echoing off the walls of the enclosure. Wataru slowly backed the Levin up out of the space, and turned the car toward the street, before sliding into first and quickly drove out of the small lot.

Traffic in the Chichibu area around seven at night was very different than most places around Japan. The evening rush of salary men and secretaries trying to get home from work had ended, but the night thralls of drunks and bumper to bumper traffic hadn't started yet. It made it really easy to get around for a small bit, and that's just how Wataru liked it. Quickly zipping up the sparsely populated streets, Wataru pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex a few minutes after leaving from work. He didn't even bother to shut off the engine to his car, as he saw his younger sister running down the front stairs of the apartment complex toward him. Quickly rolling down the driver side window, he looked over to Kazumi as she energetically moved up toward the car.

"You're going again tonight, right?" she asked eagerly, glancing over her shoulder at the small part of Mt Chichibu in the background that could be seen through the closely stacked buildings. She had a stopwatch already around her neck, signaling to her older brother that he didn't really have that much choice in the matter unless he strictly objected. Wataru simply nodded and decided to jump to the end of this line of questioning. "Get in, Kaz…" he said as she gave a small squeal of delight, moving over to the passenger side of the Levin. Wataru decided not to tell Kazumi about the note that had been left on his car. He knew that she got just as excited about racing as she did, and if he told her, she would be asking countless questions that he wouldn't have the answer to. He decided it would be best for it to be a surprise for both of them.

Opening the door, she saw that Wataru's coveralls were lying on the floor, still in the same heaped pile. She decided not to say anything about clothes heaped on the floor of the Levin, buckling up with the regular seat belts and using the coveralls as a small mat to put her feet as her brother quickly reversed out of the parking lot, and headed toward the Chichibu touge.

A few moments later, the two arrived at the top lot of Mt Chichibu. The sun had gone down now, but the moon had not risen high enough to be seen in the evening sky. A gentle bend ran along side the small parking lot, which marked the start of the downhill run and the finish line of the uphill respectively. The elder of the two Akiyama's rested his hands against the steering wheel and gently leaned back a bit as best as he could against his racing seat as the motor gently idled.

Checking his watch, it was about seven forty five. He had a few minutes before he was supposed to meet his admirer at the bottom of the mountain. He looked over at his sister and saw that Kazumi was already unbuckling herself from the stock seatbelt and sliding into the four point racing harnesses that Wataru had installed in the passenger seat. "Well, aren't we a bit eager for someone who isn't driving?" he asked as smirked at her. Kazumi looked back at him with small pouted lip and her brow a bit furrowed. "Aww, Aniki…you know I don't have my license yet. Why would you have to go and say something like that?" she asked with a small disapproving tone. Wataru just kept a small smirk on his face, patting Kazumi on the head and ruffling her hair a bit, causing it to droop over her face just a bit. "Cheer up squirt; you'll get your license once you save up the money. That's what I had to do. You have to work for it" he said as he sat back upright in his seat, unbuckling himself and re-buckling himself in the racing harnesses.

He heard Kazumi give out a small sigh as her expression perked up a bit. "Yeah, I know that, but still I don't know why you have to go and say things like that." She gently poked Wataru in the ribs as he let out a small yelp, settling himself a bit as he looked back into the street that ran along side the parking lot. His eyes narrowed a bit as the young driver began to get himself into the centered state of mind needed to attack the narrow Chichibu pass.

Kazumi saw the intensely unique impression on her brother's face and closed her mouth, so she could allow her brother to completely focus. Without speaking, Wataru slowly brought the car out of the lot and onto the narrow street adjoining it. The Levin gently hummed as Wataru put the clutch in and started feathering the throttle. The sound of his 16v motor echoed in the darkness of Mt Chichibu as Kazumi pulled out her stopwatch, fingers gently resting on the buttons. She looked at Wataru before looking down the narrow stretch of road and yelling. "Wataru, GO!" At that moment, Wataru skillfully let out the clutch and the white Toyota leap ahead down the narrow stretch of road.

The first serious corner on the Chichibu downhill run was a sharp left corner that was placed at the end of a long high speed straight away. Ironically, some of the fastest speeds of the course and where most of the accidents began were here at the first corner. The interesting part of this turn was that the incline became much steeper at the corner's exit, so once a driver rounded the turn, they had to deal with the quick change in the road and hopefully not over-speed into the next one.

Roaring down the straight away, his hand just sliding the shifter into fourth gear, Wataru brought the Levin down the straight-away that was so ill-fated for so many novice racers. Moving the car on the outside line, his right foot sharply jabbed the brakes, the weight of the small car quickly shifting loading up toward the front as Wataru quickly placed his right hand on the small shifter. Putting in the clutch and feathering the throttle with the heel of his foot, the 4AG roared toward sixty seven hundred revolutions a minute as he quickly preformed a machine-gun downshift from fourth into third and finally into second. Smoothly steering in toward the sharp corner, Wataru gently felt the rear end of the car gently unsettle itself, his Potenza tires screeching as they were brought from the limit of adhesion with the road.

The Levin was quickly drifting in toward the inside of the corner as he moved his hands quickly, dialing in a quick counter steer angle of the steering wheel as the car slid past the apex of the left hander. In the passenger seat, Kazumi dug her feet into the floor matting, as if her thoughts were helping swing the car safely through the corner. She took a quick second and looked through the windshield of the car; she could see the trees quickly rushing by the car as it started to slide sideways. When she craned her head up a bit to look out the passenger window, it was easy to see how close the front left tire was to the edge of the road. She wasn't an engineering expert, but at best guess the tire had to be at least be a good ten to fifteen centimeters from the grass and dirt on the side of the road. She had run this downhill with her brother at least a thousand times before, so she was used to her brothers aggressive driving, however times like this in the passenger seat made Kazumi realize her own mortality. Quickly looking back to Wataru, she saw as he swiftly brought the wheel back to center and started to lay his right foot into the throttle, shifting into third gear as the Levin pulled away from the corner. The exhaust note from the Hachi-Roku sang as the road started to steep downwards and rushed down toward a much broader left hander, that with a quick adjustment on his entry line, Wataru gripped the car through without having to use the brakes.

The roar of the Levin's heart pulsated through the trees and underbrush of the Chichibu shading as Wataru continued his downhill assault. As each corner came up into Wataru's view, he attacked them with a vicious ferocity, his mind wandering to the note that had been left on his windshield every once and a while.

'I will be sitting in the car with its bonnet open. Hope to see you there.'

Wataru pressed his foot deeply into the accelerator as he powered the Levin closer to the meeting spot at the bottom of the Chichibu hill.

-Author Notes: Chapter Three is up. Feedback again is appreciated. I'm trying to fix some of the grammar mistakes… Key word…TRYING…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four.

At the bottom of the Mt Chichibu run, a few of the local racers sat conversing with one another. Throughout the lot, the young enthusiasts would walk from car to car, comparing specs with their own rides. One of them, the driver of an ashen colored R32 Skyline GTS-T, leaned up against her car as she sat waiting for her associate to arrive. Displayed on the back window of the grayish Nissan was a well represented decal the racing team she was associated with. It was spiraled in willowy, cursive, white letters spelt the word '_Autotechnica_.'

The young woman looked back at the decal and gently ran her slender hand over it for a moment as a few of the other male drivers in the lot would gawk at her, whispering to one another either about the car or the woman driving it. She would glance back at them and smile or wave before she looked back over her car's open carbon fiber bonnet, listening into the Chichibu darkness for the raspy exhaust note of her renowned pray.

The alluring driver was Niksuka Kataragi and she was just going to wait…

As the needle of the tachometer rose in his Levin, a small smile crept up on Wataru's face as he gently lifted his right foot off the throttle causing the rear of the car to gently upset itself into a mild oversteering position. Once again, the Levin started to slide toward the inside of a sharp right handed corner. After moving past the apex of the turn Wataru gently re-applied the throttle and smoothly steered outward, the roar of the 4AGE's exhaust filling the forests as the outside fender of the car came inches from the rock outcroppings aligning the edge of the narrow road.

Letting out a small sigh of relief, Kazumi glanced back to her older brother as the Levin roared down the final long straight-away of the course.

'Phew! That was exciting! He committed himself to a perfect kansei drift…' she thought as she watched as the closing corner on the road route come into view.

The last corner on the Chichibu run was a sharp bend that lead into long sweeping corner that carried itself by the parking lot at the bottom. Most Chichibu racers could not carry a drift fully through the entire length of the corner. Wataru knew that very well and would have to enter the corner at a very high rate of speed to complete the maneuver. He quickly shifted into fourth gear and allowed the RPMs to climb nicely into the mid-range before he entered the braking zone of the corner.

Jabbing the brakes hard, Wataru kept the tip of his foot over the brake pedal as he shifted down into third gear. The needle spiked hard into the top end of the tachometer as he steered into the right and quickly yanked the emergency brake handle. The rear tires quickly locked for a moment as the car started to drift once again. Putting the steering wheel at a light counter-steering angle, Wataru quickly saw as people had run up to the edge of the parking lot to watch the drift. 'So I guess I'm putting on a little show…' he thought to himself as he stabbed at the throttle for a long roaring drift, the rear tires throwing up a little bit of smoke as he moved past the impromptu crowd. Cheers went up from the group of street racers, impressed with the young veteran's technique.

As Wataru quickly brought his car to a slowed pace, Kazumi grabbed the stopwatch around her neck and pressed the stop button, looking intensely at the time that her brother had run.

"Six minutes and fifty seconds…" she said quietly as Wataru slowly turned the Levin around and headed back for the parking lot. He had barely paid attention to what his sister had reported to him as a recorded time. The only thing on his mind was looking for the car with its bonnet open. 'Plus that racer who goes with it…' he thought as he slowly brought the car towards the parking area.

A few moments later the Levin slowly came into the lot. A few of the racers that had seen his drift by them came up to the car and gently patted the bonnet or the side paneling. Kazumi giggled and waved frantically as she looked at all the cars in the lot.

"Hehe, looks like you have some fans, Aniki!" she said as Wataru smiled and waved to some of them, a few of them local racers that he knew well.

Seconds later, his eyes caught a gray Skyline with its bonnet up, the powerful RB25DET engine displayed proudly to him, as if it was a challenge of his authority over the Chichibu course. 'So there you are…' Wataru thought as he slowly brought the Levin over next to the Skyline, letting the engine run for a bit as Niksuka gave him a small smile and walked over to the front of the Skyline. A small group of racers had crowded around the two cars, interested at the outcome.

The young woman brushed back her black hair that swung gently at her shoulders as he reached up with both hands and lowered the bonnet of her GTS-T. She looked over at Wataru who had already risen out from his car, looking at hers. The front lip seemed to have a design aero kit from the R32 Skyline GT-R E-I model front lip that was made by Veilside, but that's where Wataru's recognition of the exterior stopped. He didn't see any markings that registered the car a GT-R, but badges could be removed. He decided to worry about that later as he looked up at the machine's owner, an eyebrow rising a bit as she strode over to him.

'I was not expecting a woman racer. My fault for ignorance…' he thought to himself as he moved a bit over to her and gave her a nod. "Wataru Akiyama, I got your note…" he said as he trailed off a bit, waiting for her to respond.

Niksuka smiled as she nodded back to Akiyama. "Glad to hear it. My name is Niksuka Kataragi, racing for a team called _Autotechnica_. We're not based from anywhere and we don't just run with anyone." Niksuka said as she waited for a moment so that the information would sink in, before speaking again. "We just want to race the best of each pass in the area, and I drew you out of the lot. I've heard a lot about you. I figured that the note would fire you up enough so that you would make a run down here to see me. Thankfully, my instincts held true since you are here of, course." She replied with a small smile

Kazumi looked at the older woman who was addressing her older brother. She seemed very confident in her skills, because of the way she was talking, but she was sure that her brother could shut her up on the road if he had to. She looked past the woman toward her car, admiring the bold styling that the R Series Skyline had brought to the table. The ashen gray car on silver mesh rims, in Kazumi's opinion, to really bring the car to an aura of mystery and intense feeling.

Wataru let out a small breath as he thought about Niksuka's words. She had indirectly challenged him to a race on Chichibu. He slightly shook his head a bit as he looked back at her machine. "Your GTR against my Hachi Roku? That hardly seems very fair going even going downhill…" he said as some of the other racers around them, nodded and muttered in agreement.

Niksuka chuckled a bit and placed her hand on the bonnet of her beloved Skyline. "Oh she's not a GTR. She's just a GTS-T, but don't underplay the fact that she's not a four wheel drive." She said with a small smirk as she looked back to Wataru. "If you take this challenge, it is FR drivetrain vs. FR drivetrain. Completely fair in my opinion…" she said as some of the racers around them agreed with her statement.

Wataru looked back to the gallery behind him, before thinking about her proposal. 'They think that this race is a matter of their opinion…' he thought as he put his hands in his pockets. "So when would this race take place?" he asked as the gallery started to murmur in excitement on the chance that he would take this challenge.

Niksuka smiled as she leaned up against the hood of her car. "One week from today, ten o'clock. Right here." She said as Wataru waited a minute before nodding, the crowd around them erupting in excitement. Niksuka nodded to Wataru, giving him a small wink and a smile as she strode around toward the driver side of her Skyline. Seconds later, the mighty Skyline burbled to life as the group of racers parted so that she could easily leave the lot. The window of the R32 lowered as Niksuka looked to Wataru. "I'll be waiting for you. My superiors will love to hear about this…" she said as she slowly drove the Skyline toward the edge of the lot and into the street, peeling the tires out as her car screamed away.

Kazumi looked to her older brother who had turned around and looked at his own Levin. He had beaten Skylines before, but they had been driven by poor drivers would didn't respect the touge. Wataru got a different feeling about this Skyline driver. He had a feeling she would present a serious threat to his title as the fastest on Mt Chichibu.

He looked over to his sister and gave her a small smile. "Come on Kaz, let's get out of here…" she said as Kazumi nodded and quickly moved into the Levin. Giving the crowd a small wave, Wataru got behind the wheel of the Levin and seconds later was rushing up the street, back toward the city and home.

-Author Notes

A short chapter, I know, but I wanted to get something out tonight. I want to thank BoomChish for her feedback and commentary, I tried to implement some of it in my writing tonight.

Also I wanted to thank the people of WM for helping with my edits and commentary.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five.

About five-thirty the following morning, Wataru snapped out of bed as a shrill ringing echoed through the hallways of the Akiyama residence. He reached up and rubbed his eyes as his exhausted mind tried to decipher the source of the noise. Seconds later, his mind kicked in and he quickly slipped out of bed and moved into the living room to grab the phone. His feet gently thudded against the hard wooden floor as he moved down the hallway, trying to get the source of the noise and shut it off.

'Who could be calling at the damned crack of dawn?' he thought to himself as he placed his hand on the black receiver and brought it to his ear. "Akiyama residence…" he said groggily as the shrill excited voice of his friend Misaro from what sounded like a cellular phone.

"Wataru Akiyama, you jerk!" he screamed through the phone, causing Wataru to pull the phone receiver a bit from his ear. Misaro just kept on screaming. "Why would you take a challenge from the _Autotechnica_ and not tell me about it! I thought we were friends! Tight like brothers!" he continued to shout through the phone.

Wataru looked over at the clock that was on the wall, completely bewildered that someone would be calling him this early in the morning, just to yell at him over the phone. But that was Misaro for you, he was just that crazy and it was partially why Wataru and he were friends. He brought the phone piece back to his ear as he quietly spoke so as to not wake up his sister.

"Misaro, I just challenged last night, I hadn't really had time to tell anyone about it. I just came home and…" he said stopping in mid-sentence as a thought crossed his mind. "Wait, just one second. How just _did_ you find out?" Wataru asked with a slightly confused look on his face.

He could hear Misaro gently sigh on the other side as he spoke. "You know, you are some piece of work Akiyama." he said to Wataru as he waited for the answer to his question.

Misaro continued. "You don't just take a challenge by a group like _Autotechnica_ and think that people aren't just going to go home…" he said as he heard his friend gasp a bit. "Oh damn, I'm going to be late for work at the hospital! I have the morning shift again… Wataru, I'll meet you at your work at about five today, and I can explain more…but I got to go! " he said as Wataru agreed and hung up the phone.

The young racer let out a small yawn and he moved back toward his bedroom as he thought about the events that had just transpired over the night before. He hadn't even heard of the _Autotechnica _before yesterday evening. And at the time, it didn't really matter what team she was from to him either. She was just another racer that wanted to take a shot at Wataru's spot on Chichibu. However, after hearing his friend going on about them, he had a small feeling in his gut that maybe he should show caution about his next downhill battle.

The remainder of the day at Tune Force Machines was pretty straight forward. Work had been unusually light for the entire day, the only one serious client being the owner of a burnt orange FD3S who wanted to get an estimate for some new apex seals and had ideas for single turbo conversion for his machine. Wataru didn't really enjoy looking at the orange color scheme of the engine bay, however the rotary RE13BT motor that sat in it really had his interest as he had been looking that over for most of the afternoon. Wataru figured that he young man must be a street racer by the way his car seemed pretty dialed in for roads with a lot of degree changes.

As he lowered the carbon fiber bonnet of the RX-7, he looked up at the clock, which read about five twenty. He moved over to the sink and started to wash the grime of off his hands since it was just about the end of his work day. As the seconds started to tick away, he expectantly waited for Misaro's SW20 to roll up to the garage any minute now so he could learn about his opponent for the upcoming match. If there was one thing that his friend was good at, Misaro could find information if needed be.

Wataru looked up and over toward a small office as he saw as the owner of the FD came out from the small office that was off to the side of the garage with a short, portly older man walking out behind him. The two of them would chat for a moment as the shorter man would point over at Wataru, then back at the FD twirling his mustache the entire time. Wataru smiled as he went back to washing his hands.

The older man was Hoshino Kitami, famed tuner and the owner of Tune Force Machines. The old man didn't look like much, but he had experience, previously being chief mechanic for multiple teams in the Japanese Grand Touring Circuit as well as Formula Nippon and Super Taikyu Racing Series. If it had an engine in it, Kitami had most likely worked on it and pulled out the most potential from it. He knew his way around an engine bay and how to properly dial in a car for even the harshest conditions. Wataru figured the two were most likely discussing the payment options and possible tuning setups that could be done to his FD in the condition that it was in.

The sound of a car's engine pulling into the parking lot in front of the garage grabbed Wataru's attention as he placed his wash towel on the sink and quickly moved outside toward the lot. The light rumble of Misaro's MR2 echoed in the parking lot for a moment before he shut of his engine having parked next to Wataru's Levin. Wataru's young friend climbed out of his car and looked around for Wataru, who whistled to get his attention. A small smile lit up on his face as he quickly ran over to him.

"Man, I can't believe that you took on a challenge from the _Autotechnica_ and don't know who they are!" Misaro said to Wataru with a flustered voice. "That's like… that's like…!"

"That's like the most reckless thing I have ever heard…" a deeper voice spoke up, finishing Misaro's flustered sentence. The two young men turned around to see that Kitami was standing right behind them. The young man who owned the FD was standing in the background while Kitami had his arms folded and a disapproving look on his face, which was directed right at Wataru. Wataru gulped just a bit as his manager took a step closer to him.

"Boss, I'm sorry. I know I'm working and still on the clock, but…" Wataru started to say.

"I don't think you understand how much trouble you just got yourself into, Akiyama." Kitami quickly interrupted him as he looked over to the young man's machine in the parking lot before continuing. "The street team _Autotechnica_ is so well known that word that even lingered about it in the professional circuit. They aren't just a bunch of street punks like your friend over here." He said as Misaro started to defend himself, but Kitami continued talking.

"They are based out of Osaka, lead by some of the fastest drivers in the Japanese production car racing circuit today. _Autotechnica_'s purpose is to take circuit time attack technique to the streets for ultimate dominance. Many of the members are semi-pro or professional level in driving skill, as well as having a team of mechanics and service crew that travel with them on expeditions around Japan. In short, if you're going to deal with a team like them with that Levin…"

"…you're most likely going to lose." Kitami said as he looked out toward the setting sun.

Author's notes: Sorry this one was so short. I just have been flooded and figured no one was interested in my writing. However if anyone is interested and wants to see the rest of the plot I had, please review and reply and I'll keep writing.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

_"…you're most likely going to lose."_

Wataru kept his jaw clenched as he thought over Kitami's words from earlier that afternoon. The young driver's eyes narrowed as his mind mulled over the situation that he was involved in. His thoughts seemed to put him in his own little world, his eyes downcast at the counter that he and Misaro had been sitting at.

"What I don't really understand is, what a group like the _Autotechnica_ would want to do with a small time racer from the sticks…"

Misaro's words snapped Wataru out from his daze, his head raising slightly as suddenly the whole world seemed to come back into focus around him. The two of them had been sitting in a booth at a 'Family's' diner for almost thirty minutes, having not ordered a thing as Akiyama had simply sat there and stared at his menu.

Misaro, as always, had brought with him a tuning magazine and had been reading over articles about some of the highly powered cars that had been tuned to run on the expressways in the Tokyo area. His comment about Wataru had slipped out, from what had supposed to have been some of his own inner dialogue as he had been reading over a particular article about a white R32 GTR that had been tuned around six-hundred horsepower. The young touge racer found himself licking his lips slightly as he read over the Skyline's spec sheet on the next page.

"I mean look at these machines, man. Now these cars are packing some serious horsepower." Misaro said as he flipped the magazine around and slid it over to face Wataru, almost as if it were a gift to apologize for his recent outburst.

Wataru chuckled once as he looked over at his friend's apologetic face as he passed over the magazine. He wanted to say that the shop that he worked at, worked with cars of this caliber all the time. He also wanted to start giving a small speech about how these cars would probably not hold up under touge conditions, being that commonly Wangan cars were built with lower final drives and longer gears to reach the insane top speeds that they did.

However, Wataru simply gently took the magazine from his friend and looked down at the ashen Skyline. The masculine lines of the RB-powered machine did bring a small smile to the young touge driver's face, as it did to most car enthusiasts who understood what a fine piece of machinery the GTR was. At the same time, the image of the Skyline seemed to contort in his mind's eye into a GTS-T, with the sight of Niksuka Kataragi from _Autotechnica_ sitting behind the wheel. Wataru's let out a small groan as he seemed to turn the page in frustration, before letting out an extended sigh.

Wataru started to flip through the pages of the magazine, without really reading the articles or even looking at the pictures. His mind seemed slightly jumbled as he thought over the events of the last few hours. Misaro, in the background of Wataru's thoughts, let out a complaint that his friend was reading through the magazine before he had a chance to.

'I don't know why I'm so worked up…' Wataru thought, ignoring his friend's remarks, as he flipped past an article of a crimson five-hundred horsepower FD3S.

' I haven't even seen her drive yet, so I don't even know if she's that good' he thought as another GTR article slipped past his eyes.

'Although from what the Boss told me, I'm going to need something more than what I have to keep up with them…' Wataru contemplated as suddenly his fingers stopped turning pages.

His eyes seemed transfixed on an article in the magazine, but his mind hadn't yet caught up to speed on what he was looking at. Suddenly, a small smile rose on his face as his mind had finally seemed to catch up and discovered the answers to his problem.

In the article covered a Black Toyota Levin, whose 4AGE motor had been… turbocharged. The young driver had been building the car to compete in the AE86 N2 Grand Prix, but decided that he had wanted a stout daily driver instead. Wataru's eyes seemed to devour the words as he looked over the specs of the Levin and the images that came there after. A large single turbo put out two-hundred and sixty horsepower and two hundred and forty six foot pounds of torque. This machine was a literal rocket out of the gate!

"Misaro, take a look at this one…" Wataru said as Misaro almost snatched the magazine back from Wataru, giving him a small glare for reading ahead. He then looked down and whistled at the article, reading it over intently as Wataru continued speaking.

"If these guys are as good as my Boss says that they are, a turboed Levin wouldn't have a problem keeping with these guys…" Wataru said, his face suddenly twisting slightly as the words came out of his mouth. He knew better than that. Simply adding horsepower wouldn't just magically equalize the challenge.

However, the added power would give him an edge of most machines in the class of the Skyline, at least from power to weight standpoint. "I could do all the work at the shop…although the suspension would needed to be sorted out...and that would cost some extra cash…" Wataru muttered to himself as he suddenly shook his head feverishly. He knew that a turbo-conversion would be large help again a car like the GTS-T, if the woman was as skilled as hear-say had lead to believe.

But that's what all this was at the point, was hearsay. Wataru reached over and took the magazine back from Misaro, much to his friend's protest and placed the article back under his gaze. "Before I even get started at looking to do something like that, first things first…" Wataru said as he stood up, to the confusion of his friend.

"Hey, Wataru. Aren't you going to get some food?" he asked as Wataru shook his head and started to move from the booth.

"No, thanks man. I need to find a way to get in touch with the _Autotechnica_. I need to see how they drive." Wataru said, his words being a bit vague to his friend, but perfectly clear to himself as he headed out the door to the parking lot where his Levin was waiting for him.

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Wataru pulled back up into the parking lot of 'Tune Force Machines' a good twenty minutes after he left the restaurant. He hadn't known really where to start looking. In the Saitama scene, Wataru thought himself to be pretty well connected, and he hadn't heard of the _Autotechnica _before a few nights ago.

However, his manager Kitami seemed to have known quite a bit from them, because of his warning earlier that day. So if anyone could give the young Levin driver a good starting off point, it would be him.

Above the main garage of 'Tune Force Machines' were two lit windows, which represented the apartment that housed Kitami. The proprietor felt like the best way to keep his shop safe from hoodlums would be to live on top of it. A long flight of stairs led from the ground level of the parking lot to Kitami's apartment. Quickly, Wataru moved up the stairs and when he came to the door, he gently knocked on the green steel door with a kunk, kunk

A few moments later, a voice sounded from the other side. "Who is it? I hope it's not one of those salesmen or damned scouts selling cookies…" the gruff voice of Kitami echoed through the door.

Wataru just smirked and spoke up. "If it was a girl scout, what you do on your own time is your business you nasty old man." He joked as Kitami opened the door.

"Wataru? What are you doing here at this hour?" he asked, looking at the young man as he invited him inside.

"Old man, it's only six forty. Plus, I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me" Wataru said as he removed his shoes and walked into the small three room living area. For an apartment on top of a tuning garage, Kitami lived quiet lavishly. The revenue from the tuning shop, plus the income that he had made when he had been working on the professional motorsports scene, really served to liven up the small apartment.

Kitami gave a gruff groan and a nod as he walked into the small kitchen and reached into it for a beer and some water for his guest. "Questions?" the old tuner asked. "What kind of questions? I'm not going to give you a raise, if that's what you're asking for" the man joked as Wataru sat down in a plush lounge chair, sinking into it a bit as he spoke.

"No, it's nothing like that…" Wataru said with a chuckle. His eyes narrowed a bit and he let out a sigh. "I was wondering if you could tell me more about Team _Autotechnica…" _he asked, his voice unknowingly dropping down to a whispering tone.

Kitami moved back into the living room and handed Wataru his glass of water. The young man graciously accepted it and took a sip from it as Kitami looked into his beer. "So…are you thinking about taking up that woman's challenge?" Kitami asked as Wataru looked up to him quizzically.

"How… did you find out about that?" he asked with a questioningly look. He knew that some word had gotten around about it, but he didn't think that his boss would have been into the street racing scene.

"Oh, word does get around about what you brats do up there on your mountains…" the older man said, taking a sip of his beer as he looked over to Wataru. "Wataru, I can't say I understand what is going on in particular. But what I can tell you is that I understand why, this seems more important to you than you can understand yourself." Kitami said as Wataru gave him a quizzical look.

"Normally, I bet you and your Levin have been considered the underdog, the car that no one paid any attention too, even if you've won many of your races to date. But now this time, someone has picked you out, someone wants to battle you specifically because you're the fastest one on that hill." Kitami said as Wataru found himself nodding at the old man's words.

Kitami stood up and placed his beer on the counter, walking to a bookshelf that was lined with DVDs and VHS cassettes. Pulling down one of the DVDs, Kitami walked over to Wataru and handed it over to him. "Here, it's some footage of an exhibition that team Autotechnica did on Maze Circuit, earlier this year. I think that your friend is somewhere on this DVD." He said as Wataru took the DVD from him and smiled.

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Wataru headed out from Tune Force Machines about five minutes afterwards, warming up his Levin before slowly pulling out of the parking lot. He could at least take some time to watch over the DVD and get a gist of where to get started... If he had to, he might have to take a trip into the Bayline Area to get a close view of _Autotechinca_. He looked at the DVD that was sitting in his passenger seat when he stopped at a traffic light and a small smile pulled up on his face again as he began his drive home.

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Author: Sorry for the short chapter, but no one seemed to miss my writing, so :P


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